


The Way You Said "I Love You"- Prompt 1

by MrsCarolBelivet



Category: Carol (2015)
Genre: F/F, lil bit of angst, with some Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-12 00:23:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7076839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsCarolBelivet/pseuds/MrsCarolBelivet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is based off a prompt sent to me on tumblr! Thank you for inspiring me to write :*<br/>16: Over and over again, till it’s nothing but a senseless babble</p><p>This one is set post- the Oak Room, so I apologize for any feels. Just kidding, I so don’t.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way You Said "I Love You"- Prompt 1

Therese patiently sat through dinner with Carol and her friends, sneaking sly looks at Carol across the table and getting lost in the conversation. Fuck, she thought to herself. I promised I wouldn’t let her have this effect on me anymore. But Carol did. No matter how hard Therese tried, as soon as she looked across the table and met Carol’s cesious eyes, the walls she put up after Carol left crumbled. Instantly. Therese still felt a bit of trepidation as far as where she and Carol stood, since her heart was still mending, after all. Carol’s eyes were pleading, like they were before when they had tea. There was so much she obviously wanted to say to Therese, but she couldn’t- not until they were alone. After their food was finished and they had some more polite conversation, Carol excused herself for the evening and Therese followed suit. Carol whispered to her as they walked out of the Oak Room, “Can we go to my apartment and talk?”. There was a stagnant pause before Therese hesitantly replied “Yes”.  
They went downstairs and Carol called them a cab. Therese could barely move as she stood there on the street, paralyzed and desperately wanting to maintain her newfound composure. Carol gives the driver her new address, and they sit in silence during the brief drive to Carol’s building. Carol opens the door and lets Therese go in first, shrugging off her coat and telling Therese to sit down and asking if she wants anything to drink. Therese declines, knowing she cannot have lowered inhibitions right now. She needs to be able to think perfectly clear. Carol sits down in a chair opposite Therese. She begins to speak- her words soft and measured, she’s barely able to articulate them without a hitch in her breath. “Therese, I’m so sorry. I cannot say it enough, and I know I hurt you. I hate myself because I know that I hurt you. I feel guilty every day about it, but I had to do what was best for Rindy and I. I’m so sorry that it involved leaving you like that. I don’t expect you to forgive me right now, but hopefully one day you will….” her voice trailing off. Carol places her head in her hands and sighs deeply.  
Therese doesn’t know where to begin. The silence between the two women is deafening, lingering in the air before Therese speaks. “I understand it’s what you had to do, Carol. But you leaving me broke my heart, and I don’t know how to just trust you again. I’m sorry that what we had put your custody of Rindy in jeopardy. I never meant for that to happen. But please don’t feel guilty for what you did. I know you had to and I was….fine without you”.  
Therese knows this is an utter lie, but it’s one you tell yourself anyways. To pretend like you’re all right. Even though she is anything but all right. Carol broke her heart, and she wants terribly to be able to be angry at her- but she isn’t. Therese still yearns for Carol, and realizes that her feelings never fully subsided. Therese suppressed them in Carol’s absence, immersing herself in work, but they were never truly gone.  
“Do you mean that?” Carol asks. There’s another hesitation. “No”, Therese replies. Carol stands up and closes the distance between them. Therese stands up to meet her, nervous as hell but grateful that Carol is the one making the move. They’re standing so close together that they’re almost touching, and Carol looks into Therese’s eyes and says, “I love you. Please, if you’ll give me one more chance. I would never leave you again. Please”. As the last word escapes her lips, a tear rolls down her cheek. Therese reaches up to swipe the tear away with her thumb, and Carol smiles ever so faintly. Therese wraps her arms around Carol, nestling into the crook of her neck. This is home. Therese whispers, “Yes. Never leave again though…”. Carol cuts her off and whispers “Never. I love you, Therese. I love you, I love you, I love you”. Tears are streaming freely from Carol’s face now, and when Therese pulls away, she kisses Carol. Both women melt in each other’s embrace. Each time they pull away, Carol mumbles- almost incoherently “I love you”. Therese’s mouth curves into a slight smile, and she whispers “I love you too”, kissing her one more time before resting her head on Carol’s shoulder.


End file.
